New Room

Andrew has moved to a new bedroom with a "big boy bed."  We've had some fun over the past week or so picking it out in the store, selecting truck bedding, and getting everything set up for him.

This morning we assembled this shelf:

And here is a picture and a video from the day we set up the bed:

First Purchase

Lately Andrew has taken an interest in collecting and playing with coins.  He is also eager to get his hands on the cheap toys that our supermarket insists on displaying throughout the store.  So in an ambitious, perhaps foolhardy, effort to instill in him the value of spare change, over the past two weeks we undertook "Operation Earn a $1.25 Matchbox Car."

Andrew began doing little chores for me and earning $0.10-$.25.  Here is he vacuuming and wiping down the car (while simultaneously wiping his muddy shoes all over the seats):

We put his coins in a little wallet, but he enjoyed playing with them so much that honestly I think he earned/lost/found/re-earned/re-lost the same coins over and over.

I tried to illustrate the names of the coins and the totally age-inappropriate concept that some coins are worth more than others with this handy chart. Note that the chart cost me more than paying Andrew for a typical chore.

Andrew quickly caught on that the quarters were somehow superior, but his main interest in the chart was surreptitiously prying off the glued-on coins.

Today, the day finally arrived when -- fearing he would completely lose interest before managing to keep track of $1.25 in coins for any stretch of time -- I declared that Andrew had earned enough cash for a car.  He had fun picking it out and inserting all his coins into the self-checkout station to buy his car.  The sales lady who monitored the self-checkout line was very sweet and gave Andrew a sticker for making his first purchase. 

Mother's Day 2013

Our little hiker, enjoying the great outdoors:

Requisite Mother's Day shots:

And we'll throw in one of Daddy for good measure:

Animatronic Dinosaur Petting Zoo

Definitely an original experience at the Philly International Arts Festival street fair.

Andrew thought it was cool, but the real highlight of the fair for him was scoring some lip balm on a carabiner that one of the vendors was giving away.  Go figure.

Living Room Sports

Having mastered potty training (well, maybe "mastered" is too strong a word, but the kid is out of diapers) Andrew repurposes his potty chair for a game of potty-balloon-golf.  The US Open is coming to town next month.  Maybe they want to get in on this?